What makes death note a great anime

The thing that made Death Note so special and great to people was how it gives off a vibe different from normal animes. Death Note didn't rely on fasted paced fight scenes or action sequences it relied on intelligent and engaging characters and the suspense generated from the cat and mouse game shown throughout the series between Light and L or Light and Near/Mello.

Light is the most unique shonen MC in anime. Light transition of Light from a intelligent, kind, and hardworking student to a sociopathic and manipulative man with a god complex is genius.